Board 8 > When did you stop enjoying games like you used to (if you have)?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I thought this would be an interesting poll to run. For me, it's been largely due to my job. I don't have the same passion I used to because work has drained me of it... but I still enjoy gaming. Just not the way I once did. Largely a time/energy thing.
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Late college due to lack of time, which then carried over in to work.
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I don't enjoy gaming less, just differently

I have less time to devote to it, which makes some gaming experiences less compelling but I've also come to appreciate things like narrative and innovation a lot more
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I don't know when I did enjoy games
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I enjoy games as much as ever, but my tastes have changed a lot. My favorite kind of game used to be the big sweeping 70-hour RPG. Intricate plot, vast world, complex battle system, lots of cutscenes -- basically, the bigger, the better.

These days I tend to prefer things that are leaner and more tightly constructed. Like, Transistor was great: one main character, one city, around 10 hours. Past me would've been like "Is that it?" But on the flipside, past me loved Morrowind and Oblivion, but I couldn't get into Skyrim at all, and I don't think it's because it's any worse of a game. It's just not my thing any more.
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around the onset of puberty. i was never super into games in the first place but my interest in them started to fade during the ps2/gamecube/xbox era.

but i made a gamefaqs account in the summer of '04 anyway because i thought the contest was really cool and interesting.
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real answer? when i play too much. sometimes it's useful to take a break and participate in other hobbies

i've also found when i run out of truly great games and start playing random stuff that's available i get fatigued more quickly

maybe i'm not huge on 'games', i'm huge on 'great games'
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I think I love them more than ever! I love discovering new obscure titles thanks to the internet especially that I would never have known of when I was a kid.
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Well I play less nowadays due to less free time but I wouldn't say I enjoy less.

So the answer is sometime during college or never depending on writer intent.
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Gatarix posted...

I enjoy games as much as ever, but my tastes have changed a lot. My favorite kind of game used to be the big sweeping 70-hour RPG. Intricate plot, vast world, complex battle system, lots of cutscenes -- basically, the bigger, the better.

These days I tend to prefer things that are leaner and more tightly constructed. Like, Transistor was great: one main character, one city, around 10 hours. Past me would've been like "Is that it?" But on the flipside, past me loved Morrowind and Oblivion, but I couldn't get into Skyrim at all, and I don't think it's because it's any worse of a game. It's just not my thing any more.

I get ya. I too can't commit to a 70+ hour RPG unless it's really, really engaging (like Persona). I couldn't get into Skyrim, either - but I don't know how much of my thing it was even back with Oblivion. I needed a leveling mod to beat that. The character building has to be tightly constructed, yet not linear. Progression felt more linear in Skyrim.

Many of my backlogged games are RPGs that I'd have enjoyed the crap out of back in 2011, but now I don't have the time to. I shelved some since they felt either typical (Breath of the Wild), monotonous (Xenoblade 1, but apparently I didn't get to "the good part"), or linear (Valkyria Chronicles having only one way to win a battle). Or, well, all three in the case of Bravely Second.

I considered quitting my job to chip away at my backlog but quickly realized that would be the stupidest thing I've ever done X:
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Gatarix posted...

one main character, one city, around 10 hours. Past me would've been like "Is that it?"

man I feel the same way. but now I play a long game and it's just like "god, this is still going?"
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Still love it as much as I always have

but I always made sure to put aside time for it regardless of what's going on with my job or my personal life
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KujikawaRising posted...

I considered quitting my job to chip away at my backlog but quickly realized that would be the stupidest thing I've ever done X:

you should start streaming, then you can make chipping away at your backlog your job!
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Mr Lasastryke posted...

KujikawaRising posted...

I considered quitting my job to chip away at my backlog but quickly realized that would be the stupidest thing I've ever done X:

you should start streaming, then you can make chipping away at your backlog your job!

That doesn't sound very profitable... sarcasm, I presume?
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i wasn't being sarcastic. tons of people make a living by streaming on twitch now.
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I wouldn't say I enjoy games less but I do have a lot more trouble starting new games now.
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Mr Lasastryke posted...

i wasn't being sarcastic. tons of people make a living by streaming on twitch now.

I'm curious as to how that works. People just throw money at a streamer to encourage them to play games? And that's enough to make a living?
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KujikawaRising posted...

Mr Lasastryke posted...

i wasn't being sarcastic. tons of people make a living by streaming on twitch now.

I'm curious as to how that works. People just throw money at a streamer to encourage them to play games? And that's enough to make a living?

I was wondering that too. I sometimes watch streams as lowkey/background entertainment, but I can't imagine paying for it. If a streamer decides to paywall his stuff, no big deal, I can just watch someone else. It's not like there's a shortage.

Maybe they make a lot of money off ads?
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If there's a streamer I really like, I'll throw $5 at their Patreon a month but I can't imagine paying any more than that for one streamer. And I have to really like them. I've yet to find any such person. I only watch streams sporadically and never for very long. I have a lot more fun playing games than watching them.

I've never understood how someone can make streaming their job. It's not like podcasts, which are easy to listen to on the go and are worth throwing $5 a month at if you listen to 10+ hours of it a month. People actually watch streams that much? And enough people pay someone enough to make a living off of it? $30,000+ a year is a LOT to ask for on Patreon for something that seems like an inconvenience...
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Streaming as a job is more about charisma than drive to play games. Most people can't do it.
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streamers make money from subscribers, donations and ads.

gildedfool streams five days a week (he's streaming right now, actually), so he probably knows more about this stuff. i only watch streams.
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the same way any media makes money; advertising.
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It's been on a steady decline for a while. Probably about ten years now.

What will happen now is that if I get really excited for a game, I'll get it and spend like two-three weeks obsessing over it (Breath of the Wild, FFXI, NBA 2k18 recently) and then after I either beat it or get tired of it I never touch it again.
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I pretty much don't even play games anymore. I haven't bought a console since the 360 and just leech off of friends for anything that I can't not play.

RE7 is the last this gen game I played. RE2 will be the next one I play.

Everything else I play is either mobile or something that can be played in bite sized chunks (Hearthstone, most steam games).

I don't know why. Just... happened.
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I voted "around when I graduated high school or left for college" as I went through a period of like two years where I hardly touched a game. But I didn't read all the poll options and "it comes and goes, it ebbs and flows; I've lost and regained my passion" is the correct answer.
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